


The History of Pining and Its Long-Term Affects

by thunderfitz



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Abed is sad over Troy while Jeff is sad over Abed, M/M, Pining, Unrequited Love, because I like pain, hints of Abed being sad over Troy, in case you didn't read the title, me too Jeff, platonic AbedAnnie, platonic JeffAnnie, there's a lot of layers, there's lots of it, this mainly focuses on Jeff daydreaming about Abed, unless?, which is relatable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25368100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderfitz/pseuds/thunderfitz
Summary: When Abed announces that he's leaving Greendale to focus on his filmmaking career, Jeff thinks back on all the time he's spent pining over Abed, and makes a decision that will change the course of their relationship forever.
Relationships: Abed Nadir/Jeff Winger, Abed Nadir/Troy Barnes (mentioned), Britta Perry/Troy Barnes (mentioned)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 51





	The History of Pining and Its Long-Term Affects

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic on a random impulse because I read all of the JeffAbed fics on here, and couldn't find any more on any other website, so I got frustrated at the lack of content and furiously typed away. Also this is my first time writing anything from Jeff's perspective so maybe like... DON'T bully me okay thank you goodbye.

Jeff Winger was known for a lot of things; his cool hair, his sexy bod, his undeniable appeal to women of all backgrounds and personalities. Something Jeff wasn’t exactly known for was his attraction to men. It wasn’t like he was actively working to hide it or anything- just look at how much he keeps up his appearance, you think any straight man cares that much about hygiene? They should, and they don’t, but Jeff does. Jeff cares very, very much. Point being, Jeff always thought it was painfully clear that he wasn’t fully straight, so he never felt the need to talk about it. It was easy not to talk about liking men when he never actually had blossoming, romantic feelings for a man.

That is, until one Abed Nadir came along. Abed was young, though not so young that it would be immoral to have any sort of relations with him, and Jeff had to admit he was, as Jeff himself once put it, _rakishly good-looking_. Additionally, Abed was funny, kind- even if he sometimes missed the mark- and best of all; Abed gave Jeff his space. While others of the group would be all over Jeff, constantly demanding help or smothering him with hugs, Abed somehow knew when it was too much, knew when to leave Jeff be. That fact alone made Abed increasingly more attractive to Jeff. Abed usually had a hard time reading people, so what made Jeff so special? It was likely that Abed was just learning to understand people with practice, but Jeff liked to tell himself it was specific to only their dynamic. Was that foolish? Maybe. Definitely. Did that mean Jeff would stop? Not in the slightest.

Over time, Jeff found himself more and more drawn to Abed; pointing was usually rude, but when Abed did it, it came off as endearing- maybe even quirky. Jeff liked the way he said _Cool. Cool cool cool_ , and how he’d tack on more and more _cool_ s if he was excited or happy. That was Jeff’s favourite thing about Abed. His happiness. A lot of people saw Abed as emotionless- hell, even Abed himself often remarked that he didn’t feel emotions, that he was unable to. Jeff knew better. Jeff knew that on the inside, behind the unreadable expressions and the avoidance strategies, Abed felt things, probably even more than the rest of the group combined, and Jeff was incredibly eager to peel back some layers and see those emotions at the surface; but there was one problem with that. Jeff couldn’t open up. He wanted so badly to just profess his undying love for Abed, do some movie trope he knew Abed would appreciate, like holding up a boombox or a ton of giant poster boards- but he couldn’t. No matter how hard Jeff tried, no matter how much he talked it through with his various therapists, he couldn’t bring himself to face the pop culture nerd with brightly coloured tee shirts and the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen.

With time, Jeff’s feelings only grew stronger, like a balloon ready to pop, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to keep that balloon intact. Which was actually extremely concerning for Jeff, because he knew how much Abed hated things that were loud and sudden. Still, Jeff kept just enough distance between them to keep himself from making things complicated and weird, and where Jeff left space, Troy filled it. Troy and Abed had quickly become a whole new entity, constantly following one another around, making jokes only the two of them understood, even having a not-so-secret handshake. Nobody really knew for sure where Abed was on the sexuality spectrum, except for that he’d apparently made out with the hottest girl on campus, but the group was beginning to suspect Troy and Abed were a little bit more than just best friends.

Then, they’d said they had an announcement, and Jeff felt his heart stop, and after the initial relief of realizing that they’d simply moved in together, an intense wave of jealousy had settled deep within his bones. Troy Barnes got to wake up every day of his life and see Abed, got to spend every day, every night, with Abed. Jeff wondered if Troy knew just how lucky he was, and if he treated Abed with all the care in the world. He didn’t, clearly, because soon enough Troy was hooking up with Britta, and despite Abed acting like it was _cool cool cool_ , Jeff knew better. He could see it- the way Abed started being just a little bit quieter, the way he disagreed with Troy more often than he had before. He’d also noticed how much closer Annie and Abed had gotten- but not in a romantic way, no- there was something emotional there, something unspoken. It was the way Annie would glance towards Abed with that Disney princess look in her eyes whenever Troy and Britta kissed or held hands- that was what had really made things crystal clear. Troy had had the greatest, most precious thing in the world: Abed. Yet, he’d thrown it away, tossed Abed aside for a relationship with Britta that everyone knew wouldn’t last.

It had taken Jeff a great deal of effort not to smack some sense into Troy then, because who the hell threw away the chance to be with Abed? Abed Nadir, who Jeff was pretty sure was the human embodiment of perfect, both in terms of his looks and his personality. It just didn’t make logical sense. Then again, nothing really ever made logical sense, like how Troy left Abed behind to sail around the world. If Abed had gotten quiet before, he’d gone nearly silent after Troy left. Every day, Jeff looked over and saw a man who wasn’t all there. Abed talked less, made less movie references, and his smiles were either few and far between or incredibly obviously forced. That happiness that Jeff had grown to love- yes, love- so much was just gone. Even when he’d started dating Rachel (which totally didn’t make Jeff jealous at all), Abed still appeared to be just a shell of the loveable dork he’d previously been. His enthusiasm for things was toned down, and his need to cause chaos for audience appeal had diminished. He wasn’t Abed anymore, and when he’d suddenly revealed that he was moving to Los Angeles, all by himself, Jeff felt something within him snap.

Maybe it was that balloon, finally popping after so much effort to keep it together. Maybe it was his bones, cracking from the force of Jeff clenching his hands into fists. Maybe it was his heart. Either way, Jeff suddenly felt a tsunami of emotions hit him square in the chest- except he didn’t just feel them in his chest, he felt them all over. Abed was leaving. Abed would leave, he’d go off to do big, bright things, and Jeff would probably never see him again.

Jeff hugged Abed tighter than he’d ever hugged anyone in his life, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Abed didn’t pull away immediately. Eventually, though, he did, and Jeff had to watch as Annie and Abed waved him goodbye and disappeared into the airport. He was gone. In a few hours, Abed would likely be out of his life forever, and as Jeff sat in the bar Britta worked at, gently fiddling with the beer bottle in his hands, he wondered if he’d ever get his heart back, or if Abed even knew he had it in the first place.

“Winger.” Britta snapped, pulling Jeff out of the whirlwind that was his emotions. He flinched, albeit unintentionally, and the rest of the group (those who were left, anyway) took notice.

“Oh, Jeffrey-” Dean Pelton cooed sadly, and before he could give any sort of comfort, Britta was cutting him off, leaning closer into Jeff’s personal space.

“They don’t leave for another few hours.” She stated simply, and Jeff felt his heart pick up speed. He opened his mouth to voice his confusion, but Britta beat it to him with an explanation of her own. “Annie’s gonna fly with Abed there, then fly to D.C. She knows how he feels about flying. Oh, also, that forty-minute voicemail you sent? It wasn’t just about Professor Slater.” Britta informed, smirking, before the smirk faded to a soft smile. “Go get him. I’m sure he’d appreciate the ‘following your love to a crowded airport just before departure’ trope- or, homage or whatever.” Jeff felt his face heat up, but his heart did, too, and his body surged with a sudden current of confidence. He could do this. He had to, before it was too late. So he did.

By the time Jeff had managed to drive back to the airport (traffic was a bitch), find parking (the parking lot itself was also a bitch), and push his way inside through the masses of people (again, more bitches), he estimated he only had around ten minutes before they’d start boarding. Maybe Jeff could give Abed that perfectly-timed chaos he’d been lacking recently. He shoved and elbowed his way through the massive building, wracking his brain for where the hell he’d even find them. Jeff had a small memory of Annie telling Abed the flight details in the car, and once he had a destination, he bolted. Well, at least, he was as fast as he could be without security getting suspicious and pinning him down.

Before Jeff could rethink his decision, he spotted the back of Annie and Abed’s heads- they were sitting together, waiting for them to start allowing people on the plane. “Abed!” He called out, and Jeff was so caught up in the moment that he didn’t even wince when everyone in the area looked towards him. Abed looked, that was all that mattered. And Annie, of course, but for obvious reasons he was much more focused on Abed.

“Jeff! What are you doing here?” Annie exclaimed in equal parts excitement and confusion as Jeff hurried over to them. Annie and Abed stood up on impulse, feeling his anxious energy rub off on them. The study group was connected like that.

“I love you.” Jeff blurted out, his eyes on Abed as he struggled to regain his breath. Annie gasped just as Abed’s eyebrows raised and his eyes widened, before he carefully, hesitantly met Jeff’s when he didn’t yet elaborate further. “God- I love you, Abed. I’m in love with you, and I didn’t say anything because- because I just-” Jeff groaned in frustration. “I don’t know! I don’t know, I just couldn’t, and now you’re leaving and I don’t want you to leave. Because if you leave, you’ll never come back, and then I’ll lose you forever.” He admitted, and when Abed blinked a few times and opened his mouth to respond, a finger raised, Jeff steamrolled through. “I know it isn’t fair for me to ask you to stay at Greendale- and- and I’m not, I’m just… I’m asking you to come back. At some point. Preferably sooner rather than later because in case you haven’t noticed my awareness of my steadily increasing age has been driving me up the wall and-” Jeff halted his words when he felt Abed’s hands on either side of his face. Abed squinted his eyes and tilted his head, never letting go.

“Are you following a script? I don’t think I’ve seen this movie. Whatever it is, it’s poorly written.” Jeff’s jaw dropped at that, and he felt his stomach churn uncomfortably, and just as he started to defend himself and try to cover his tracks, Abed smiled. It was genuine, with his little fang-like teeth on either side of his normal ones showing, and Jeff let out a quiet huff of relieved laughter.

“You’re messing with me.”

“Mhm.” Abed hummed in response as his lips closed into a smaller, softer smile. He didn’t look Jeff right in the eyes this time- Abed didn’t usually- he looked somewhere just above them, at Jeff’s forehead, but Jeff could still pick out some sort of positive emotion in them, so he figured he must not have fucked things up too badly. “I promise.”

“Hm?”

“You asked me to come back.” Abed reminded him. “I will. I promise.” With that statement, Abed was apparently done talking, and he leaned forward and closed the gap, pressing his lips to Jeff’s. Jeff immediately felt sparks, or fire, or fireworks, or maybe just a giant fucking volcano erupting all over the place. Kissing Abed was everything he’d ever dreamed it would be, his lips soft from his frequent use of chapstick, and Jeff could just barely register that Abed had applied it recently. It was some sort of mint, making Jeff’s lips buzz, and at some point he found himself letting the kiss get a little heated. Luckily for Annie, who had initially aww’d before scrunching her nose as the making out part, her and Abed’s section was called to board on the speakers. Abed broke away, licking his own lips when he did, and god if Jeff found that to be the hottest thing anyone had ever done in the entire history of the universe.

Then, just like that, it was over. Abed removed his hands from Jeff’s cheeks and grabbed his bag and suitcase, and Annie gave Jeff a quick hug. “You’ve really made your way around the table. Should I send a warning text to Chang?” Annie whispered jokingly in Jeff’s ear, and he huffed and pushed her away. She laughed, earning a confused look from Abed, and grabbed her own bag and suitcase. “I’ll tell you on the plane.” She told Abed, who nodded. They both looked to Jeff again, and Jeff felt a weight lifted off his chest as he watched them turn away and enter the line.

So maybe Abed was leaving without him. Jeff could wait. If there was one thing that Jeff Winger was known for, it was waiting for the love of his life to come back to him.

**Author's Note:**

> forgot to mention this at the beginning but there's probably a lot of typos in this so... sorry? forgive me?? please???


End file.
